The Roosevelt Lakers women's ice hockey team represents Roosevelt University (RU) in Women's Division 1 of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) and in the Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association (CCWHA), following the absorption of Robert Morris University Illinois (RMU) and several of RMU's athletic teams, including women's ice hockey, that was finalized in 2020.
Prior to the merger RMU, known as the Eagles, was one of the ACHA's historically dominant programs, a status that included a pair of national championships (in 2005 and 2007), as well as a national-best five winners of the Zoë M. Harris Award as the ACHA's player of the year. RMU made 11 appearances at the ACHA National Tournament, a count that also placed near the top of the association.
Mason Strom was hired as the team's seventh full-time head coach for the 2018–19 season and the first year of the team's identity as the Lakers will be his third overall.
History
Robert Morris University Illinois (2003–20)
Instant dynasty (2003–08) Robert Morris College (as the school was known until May 1, 2009) added women's hockey to its athletic department for the 2003–04 season.
The Eagles, under head coach John Burke, quickly assembled a roster that featured stars like co-captains Leah Johnson and Krista Sleen, as well as Warroad, Minnesota product Lisa Gens. Beginning a trend in the program that continues to the present, the inaugural roster was geographically diverse, featuring players local to Chicago and Illinois, but also from places as far away as Texas and Washington. From the program's inaugural game, a 10–0 victory at then-home Glacier Ice Arena in Vernon Hills, Illinois against Notre Dame on October 10, 2003, RMC had little issue with most ACHA competition, losing within the association only to eventual national champion Wisconsin and emerging power Lindenwood during the regular season. The program captured its first trophy midway through the year by taking first place at the White Out Tournament, hosted by UMass and the first mid-season showcase event held within the ACHA's women's divisions. That title also led to Robert Morris' first-ever number one ranking in the ACHA polls, in Ranking 3 of that season. The Eagles would retain the top position for ten ranking periods, spanning two and a half seasons (a time-period reign that was eventually matched by Lindenwood from 2009 to 2011 but has never been exceeded).
As the ACHA's top-ranked team, RMC was invited to the 2004 ACHA National Tournament, held in East Lansing, Michigan. However, the Eagles dropped their opener to No. 8 Colorado despite goals by Leah Johnson, Kathleen Johnson and Mindy Shelton, a defeat that eventually cost the squad a spot in the semifinals, before dumping No. 12 University of Pennsylvania and then tying No. 11 Penn State in a consolation game to finish sixth.
An already-strong team got even stronger in the seasons that followed thanks largely to its 2004 entering class, which went on to become one of the most decorated in ACHA history. Erie, Pennsylvania's Savannah Varner, the ACHA's 2006–07 Zoë M. Harris Player of the Year and an All-American in 2004–05, 2005–06, and 2007–08 headlined the group, which also featured NCAA transfers Crystal Zace (a goaltender from Bemidji State) and Jennifer Norris (a defenseman from Wisconsin–Stevens Point). Other standouts included Katie Kosobucki, another Warroad High School graduate, and Ashley Boye from the noted Belle Tire youth program in Michigan.
From the 2004–05 season through 2007–08, the Eagles lost just ten games against ACHA competition, all against perennial contenders Lindenwood and Michigan State. That reality, in part, led to RMC frequently seeking outside challenges, most significantly from NCAA Division III and U Sports (then called CIS) competition. Throughout the 2000s, Robert Morris schedules generally numbered between 40 and 45 games, with the 2006–07 slate serving as representative: 25–2–1 in 28 ACHA games, 5–4–1 in ten games against NCAA squads, and 0–5–0 versus CIS foes.
During the 2005–06 season, RMC traveled to Tallinn, Estonia to compete in a tournament against seven European teams, and hosted by the Estonian Ice Hockey Association in an effort to get the brand-new Estonia women's national ice hockey team off the ground. The Eagles beat Estonia by a 5–0 count in their tournament opener the day after Estonia defeated Iceland in their first-ever international contest. Thanks to Varner's hat trick, RMC routed British side Kingston Diamonds 8–0 to capture the title, after also defeating Coventry Phoenix (Great Britain), KFS Wildcats (Denmark), and a team from Riga, Latvia.
Stateside, the Eagles' dominance in the ACHA made invitations to nationals a foregone conclusion, with the season's success usually ultimately hinging on the last words against other top squads. The team qualified for the ACHA semifinals for six consecutive seasons from 2004–05 through 2009–10, with the first five of that run featuring championship game appearances.
2005 national championship
The 2005 ACHA National Tournament was held outside of Buffalo, New York, with the Eagles entering the competition as the top seed, and in Pool A with hosting University at Buffalo and North Country Community College. RMC opened by battering UB by an 8–0 count on March 10, 2015, a contest in which the Bulls were held to just three shots on goal, behind two tallies by Leah Johnson and three by Boye. Burke's charges didn't have much more of an issue in the pool and quarterfinal bid clincher against NCCC, as the team scored four goals shorthanded, three by Varner, in a 7–2 victory. The ACHA, at the time, played its quarterfinal and semifinal rounds on the same day, forcing the Eagles to follow up their pool wins by defeating two strong opponents with only about seven hours between games. Fifth-ranked Western Michigan opened the rigorous stretch by handing the Eagles their first and only deficit of the tournament on a Jennifer Goscicki goal just 1:27 into the game. However, two goals from Boye, and one each from Johnson and Mindy Shelton put RMC ahead 4–2 by the end of the first period on the way to a 9–3 win. That evening, a Crystal Randall shutout helped Robert Morris past frequent nationals nemesis Rhode Island and into the championship game by a 4–0 count. The final, against Michigan State, was also largely drama-free, as the Eagles led 2–0 within the first minute of play thanks to Norris and Varner. Zace largely shut down the Spartans from there, and the RMC onslaught wrapped up with a 7–1 title win.
RMC's 2004–05 campaign remains one of the most dominant in ACHA history. The Eagles were the association's top-ranked team wire to wire, and were 20–0–0 against ACHA competition. Sleen won the Zoë M. Harris Award as the ACHA's player of the year, while Johnson was the national tournament most valuable player, and Varner, Boye and Johnson each received placement on the All-American teams.
2007 national championship
The 2005 national title game would prove to be an anomaly in terms of opponent, as each of the next four ACHA finals would feature Robert Morris-Lindenwood matchups. The Lions shut down RMC's repeat bid in 2006 with a 3–2 overtime win, but the Eagles recaptured the top spot in the rankings the following season with a late-season home sweep of LU. That flip gave Robert Morris the top seed for the 2007 national championships in Amherst, Massachusetts, where the Eagles promptly dispatched of Michigan and hosting Massachusetts in the pool round by a combined 12–1 count, thanks in part to Jessica Zalesky's three goals.
Things became much tighter from there, starting with a 3–1 quarterfinal win over Norwich on March 9, 2007. Thanks to an early Sophie LeClerc goal, the Cadets (who were competing in their final ACHA season before heading to NCAA Division III) held a 1–0 lead until late in the second period. RMC finally got going from that point, tying the game through freshman standout Bridget Katz, then adding third period tallies by Varner and Kosobucki for the final margin. The semifinal contest, against a Connecticut team that had upset always powerful Michigan State in the quarterfinals, offered even more drama. Varner's interception-to-backhand goal put RMC up 1–0 in the second, and her assist of Katz with six minutes left in the third period gave the Eagles a 2–1 lead. However, the Huskies grabbed a 5-on-3 goal in the last minute of regulation to force overtime, and an Eagles penalty immediately after the goal put UConn right back on a 5-on-3, with a chance to end things. Zace stood tall on the opening rush of overtime, and Varner subsequently boosted her squad to the finals with a shorthanded goal that, as with her first goal of the game, was a solo effort beginning with a turnover near the Huskies line.
The championship rematch against Lindenwood was a bit less tense. Jackie Holmes and Ashley Ackerman gave the Eagles a 2–0 lead, and although Katie Kells made it 2–1 in the second period, Zace made a key save on eventual two-time ACHA player of the year Kat Hannah to keep RMC ahead. Katz scored shortly after that to restore the two-goal advantage, and Tricia Cain added a late clincher on the power play.
Varner was named the most valuable player of the tournament, completing a rare double MVP season following up her Zoë M. Harris Award win. Zace captured first team All-American honors for the second year in a row, and she was joined on the top All-American tier by Kosobucki and Dana Paha.
Weaver era and continued success (2008–14)
Robert Morris endured its first significant era change in 2008, as the 2004 entering class that formed much of the core responsible for the 2005 and 2007 national championships graduated (or already had, in the case of transfer players). Furthermore, Burke departed midway through the 2008–09 campaign after five-and-a-half seasons behind the Eagles bench. He was replaced on an interim basis by long-time assistant Chris Chelios (no relation to the Hockey Hall of Fame player) for the remainder of 2008–09, before Tom Robertson became the permanent replacement.
If those disruptions hurt the team, it wasn't immediately apparent. The Eagles brought in a loaded recruiting class in 2008, headlined by Alaska native Ramey Weaver, North Dakota's Cassie Beckerleg and Californian Rachel Black. Those freshmen combined with underclass stars like Danielle McCutcheon and Hope Fullum to drive the program for the next few years. Despite the heavy graduations and coaching uncertainty, RMU maintained its position near the top of the ACHA during 2008–09 and 2009–10, never falling below fifth in the rankings, and making its fifth and sixth consecutive trips to the national tournament semifinals. Both seasons ended in loss, however, first with one more title game loss to Lindenwood, then with a narrow semifinal defeat to Michigan State.
In 2010, Robert Morris joined the Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association, ending the program's run as an independent team. With its CCWHA membership, RMU once again found itself competing for trophies with Lindenwood (which had joined the conference in 2007), although the reunion was short-lived, as the Lions left the CCWHA and the ACHA for College Hockey America and NCAA Division I after 2010–11, the Eagles' first season in the league.